I've got a 500mi road trip tomorrow. Is it safe to drive the car or would I be doing damage to the car?

At my destination, I have access to a garage and tools, so I can remove the EGR valve and clean it or replace it. But if the trip is going to damage other parts, maybe I'll postpone and try to deal with this issue.

What's really strange is that I had taken the car to a Honda dealer to have the seat belt buckle replaced under warranty. 10 miles after I leave the dealership, the CEL comes on. Not sure what to make of that, but I'm chalking it up to coincidence.

I'm sure it's a bit late for this, but the 500mi trip would probably have been fine with the CEL. However, the car would probably have had some engine hesitation or other issues relating to this CEL.

Did you end up doing the trip with the CEL on, or did you postpone the trip?

As for the trip to the dealership and the CEL coming on, it's purely coincidence.

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I reset the CEL and went on the trip. CEL didn't come back on during that trip. No pending codes either.

I removed the EGR and the pintle was stuck closed (would not open when I applied battery voltage). Stuck closed doesn't create engine hesitation, but the combustion chamber does get hotter because there are no exhaust gases getting in. I manually opened the valve by pulling on the pintle (opens outward in this model) and cleaned out the valve. After cleaning it, then spraying a little silicone lube on the pintle and and working it in/out, the pintle now opens when battery voltage is applied. So I think I have it fixed. Doing some other stuff on the car and I have to replace the EGR valve gasket, so I'll have to wait for that and then some driving to confirm the fix.